CAMP GRAY HISTORY
It all started with a simple dream way back in 1953.
Monsignor Francis Xavier Gray, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Baraboo, WI, dreamed of a “place where youths would be free and away from the temptations of the streets; where they could enjoy nature and become acquainted with it firsthand. . . a place where they could commune, under supervision, with their Creator and away from paths so frequently leading to delinquency.”
After personally scouting many potential sites, Monsignor Gray became enamored with an unoccupied, uncultivated, 100-acre wooded tract west of Highway 12, about 8 miles northwest of Baraboo.
To experience the growth of Camp Gray over the past many, many decades, keep scrolling! We’re always on the hunt for more information about the history of this great place. Please email us if you have any Camp Gray historical information or artifacts that you’d like to share! Thanks!
January 1968
Incorporation!
Camp Gray is officially incorporated (incorporation!) by The Diocese of Madison.
June 1969
St. John, Pray for Us!
The world-famous St. John showerhouse was built in 1969, as well as the new basketball courts. 644 campers attended the 9-week Summer Camp season in 1969.
June 1970
Wisconsin All-Star Basketball Camp
Every year in the 1970s, Camp Gray hosted the Wisconsin All-Star Basketball Camp, run by coaches from the University of Wisconsin. The camp was run in the first few weeks of June each year.